Lafarge Zambia partners with ZRL

Lafarge Zambia (Lafarge), in partnership Congolese Railways and Zambia Railways, has commissioned a new modern rail loading facility in Ndola. The new facility will increase cement exports into the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo (DR). Lafarge aims to load 400tonnes/week of cement in 2016, and exceed that figure in 2017. Additionally, the company plans a four-fold increase in the 150,000tonnes/year of cement exports to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Congo (DR).

Despite political uncertainties in the Democratic Republic of Congo and economic challenges in Zambia, cement maker Lafarge Zambia was able to record post-tax profit of US$36,017 (€32,187.71) in the first half of 2015, up 4% year-on-year.

According to Lafarge Zambia, cement production in 2015 was adversely impacted by electricity supply disruptions.

The company expects the domestic demand to continue to slow down in the second half of 2015 until Eurobond proceeds are directed towards construction an

HeidelbergCement is considering adding South African and Mozambique production capacity as the German company seeks to tap growing demand for construction material in Africa, reports Bloomberg. “Africa is an important part of our emerging markets exposure,” chief executive Bernd Scheifele said in a recent interview. The continent “has seen very stable growth in demand for cement in the last few years, which is independent from what’s happening in the world economy.” Demand is growing at a rate of about 5 mi